Mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, and other portable electronic computing devices, typically store various kinds of personal and business information (e.g., online banking passwords, corporate documents, network access credentials, etc.). Preventing this information from getting in the wrong hands is a principal concern of many mobile device users. To this end, many mobile devices have a security feature that allows a user to lock a mobile device such that unauthorized users cannot access the mobile device, or one or more of the mobile device's applications to retrieve such information, without entering a password or other token of user authentication.
Another security feature on some mobile devices involves remotely wiping data from the mobile device if the mobile device is lost or stolen. There are presently several systems to remotely wipe the information on a mobile device, such as installing an application on the mobile device, using a management console on the information technology side, or signing up for a cloud-based service. In either instance, the remote wipe is typically performed by sending a remote wipe command to the mobile device. The mobile device includes software or an application module that recognizes the remote wipe command and proceeds to remotely wipe the information currently stored on the mobile device. Nevertheless, the security features described above have disadvantages and limitations such as a mobile device user's failure to lock their mobile device, the inability to wipe the information when the mobile device is unable to receive the remote wipe commend, and the inability to control which information is wiped.